New Delhi, Apr 14 (PTI): Online marketplace Flipkart on Tuesday backed away from talks with telecom service provider Airtel for joining its platform Airtel Zero, becoming the first big player to take sides in the debate over net neutrality in India.

“We will be walking away from the ongoing discussions with Airtel for their platform Airtel Zero. We will be committing Flipkart spokesperson said.

”We will be working towards ensuring that the spirit of net neutrality is upheld and applied equally to all companies in India, irrespective of the size or the service offered and there is absolutely no discrimination whatsoever,” the spokesperson added.

Net neutrality implies that telecom service providers have to give equal treatment to all Internet traffic and any priority given to an application or company on payment basis is seen as violating the concept.

Launched last week, Airtel Zero is an open-marketing platform that allows customers to access a variety of mobile applications for free, with the data charges being paid by the applications.

Over 100,000 netizens have already written to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in support of net neutrality in the country after TRAI.

Social networks like Twitter and Facebook have been buzzing with people campaigning that policy makers should not allow telecom companies to charge extra fees for Internet services or provide preferential access to certain apps.